Ghana Community Online: Replying To Trying to help - Omenako School Project - Ghana Community Online

To quote A. Wood:

"....never thought fund-raising will be such hard work." -

Same old story. Same donors over and over again. Nothing for December. In 2009 we generated $3,400 and expensed $3,100.
For 2010, after establishing the internet at the school, I recommend we work on the kids directly with the help of Brekodi and Cybria. I think, we may have a greater impact that way, than putting up structures.

Confused, on 01 January 2010 - 06:48 PM, said:

I had managed to get on the Internet the day before my visit. I therefore gave them the good news you just mentioned as soon as she brought up the request for the computers.


Has the website generated any contributions at all?

hipic_junction, on 01 January 2010 - 03:13 PM, said:

HIPIC,

In the other thread, we have already indicated that there is a laptop ready for them. Arrangements will also be made for internet connection (we have a balance of $300). We will take care of the initial installation. That is our intended next phase. We can then concentrate on educating the kids - with the help of our in house education consultants.

Hipic, i strongly get this feeling that this project is not going anywhere.
you mentioned that the headmistress has taken on the role of project manager.
is she qualified to perform this role?
who are the project board? - that is the group responsible for the direction and general management of the project
who are the senior user[s[? - this will will be someone from the school who is represents interests of the school/school children with regards to deliverables
who are the senior suppliers? - those involved in development of anything related to the project
we have identified who the project manager is - the headmistress.
is the a project plan?
if there is, has anyone seen it?
what is the breakdown of this project? - is there a project plan?
what are the time scales for the breakdown of the project?

Ewiase, on 01 January 2010 - 01:56 AM, said:

If I were a resident of Omenako, I would not let my child go to this facility, day-care or no day-care.

There appears to be an impression that Ghana Community Online is an NGO. I say this because someone asked my brother what else the NGO is funding. Also, while I was having discussions with the headmistress, the principal of the JSS kept asking me to take a tour of her school that should also be assisted. After the head-mistress cautioned her, the principal of the JSS amended her statement, by saying that she was merely asking that if I knew another NGO, she would appreciate me passing on their name to her.

It was not until my brother came back from talking to another group, and learning from them the NGO angle that it all made sense to me.

I passed on the information that Confused has provided here - that this effort is being handled by a combined force of 20 or so members from Ghana and around the world. I also told them that our largest contributor is the Canadian who has raised money from friends.



Incidentally, what started this whole thing is now needed at the school.

Yes, we were all thinking that some other contribution(s), other than the laptop, will be more appropriate. Almost one year later, the headmistress has indicated that they could really use computers.

Canuck....you were right.

If you have not gotten rid of that laptop, please do not. The headmistress emphasized that it is hard to explain what a computer can do, or how it works, when the child has not set eyes on one before.

zulughana, on 31 December 2009 - 08:50 PM, said:

Zulu,
I believe the head-mistress is acting in that capacity; doing what she can.

She described what had transpired when part of the school building was roofed. At the time, she had been told by citizens of the town that they should be the first in line to get jobs in the school building project.

The roofing could cover only two of the classrooms. The support pillars had not been done. Instead they had used wood to hold up the roof; an obviously inadequate way to hold the weight of the roof. She had insisted that the base of the support structure be made available. So you can see some 5 inches of iron rod in the ground. Her plan is to provide one that will extend upwards to the roof to give it the needed support.

My brother, who has supervised building construction, went around the schoold and came back later to tell me that there was not a single support clamp holding the roof to the building. He continued that the roof risked being taken off by strong winds. This is not something that I discussed with the headmistress.

I talked about quality work elsewhere in these discussions. This was some time ago.

The headmistress is of the impression that the community expects the church to handle improvements in the school, even though the school is for all. We certainly have not taken sides or allowed that to stand in the way of our contributions.

hipic_junction, on 31 December 2009 - 04:52 AM, said:

i am not surprised. they are expecting those funding the school project to do so.

looking at these pictures, I need to ask the question....
is there a project manager for this project???

The children continue their efforts at gathering stones for sale to raise money for the school building project.



Below, Angela, Akos and another friend fetch water for other chores at the school.



This borehole provides water for the school. It appears that it was dug for demonstration purposes and therefore not deep enough. With the citizenery close to the school getting to the bore-hole at dawn to draw water, shortages were not uncommon. The headmistress has therefore resorted to removing the lever needed to draw the water. She does this at the end of the day.

Someone talked about water harvesting. The headmistress says they will appreciate a polytank to collect water that will supplement what they get from the bore-hole.

The new addition, as mandated by the administrators of the school system.



Here is the inside of the building.




Yes, the headmistress indicated that she was asked to start a kindergarten (sp?). Where is Cybria? Is that the correct spelling?

It doesn't look like this has any funding behind it.

I will reserve my comments (for now).